2010 Freedom Pass re-issue

The 2010 Freedom Pass re-issue is now taking place, and will end on 6th February 2010. Your existing Freedom pass will expire on 31st March 2010 and you must renew it.

Under new arrangements, you can only apply for your FreedomPass from any one of the 24 local Post Offices in Havering. The implementation of the new style photo ID card means your FreedomPass cards will no longer be available at the time of application. Your application will take up to 10 days to process.

The re-issue period will start from 4th January 2010 unlike previous issues when it commenced from February. The early start is necessary to ensure that all pass holders have applied for their pass and received it through the post, prior to their existing pass ceasing to operate on 1st April 2010.

For a list of Post Office branches in Havering click on the link on the right of this page.
Please see timetable below to work out when you should apply:

Look at the letter your surname that begin with, and then go along during one of the dates to apply.

A / B / C / D / E
04 - 16 Jan

F / G / H / I / J
18 – 23 Jan

K / L / M / N / O
25 – 30 Jan

P - Z

01 – 06 Feb

If you miss your week, please apply 08 – 13 Feb. For more info click here, or on the picture above.

Last Chance to Vote

You have until 5pm today....

...To vote for two Havering parks that are in the running for a £400,000 makeover, if they receive enough votes in the Mayor of London's 'Help a London Park' scheme.

Harrow Lodge Park in Hornchurch and Central Park in Harold Hill, are our two nominations.

Please vote at http://www.london.gov.uk/parksvote/ The vote closes at 5pm today.

For full details, please see previous story by clicking here

24 Hour Freedom Pass

Twenty four hour free travel for elderly Freedom Pass holders came into force on 2 January 2009. The extension of the free travel scheme applies to journeys made on TfL routes, which include London buses, tubes, the DLR, and some train services (until now the elderly person’s pass could not be used before 9 am).

The Freedom Pass, paid for and run by London’s boroughs, is one of the most comprehensive concessionary fares schemes of its kind for older and disabled people in the country, and London boroughs have recently agreed a £240 million deal to provide the Freedom Pass between 1 April 2009 and 31 March 2010.

The Train Operating Companies have been invited to participate in offering the supplemental benefits but it has not been possible to reach an agreement to date. Therefore the additional hours will not apply to National Rail services in London, aside from the services specified above.
Transport for London estimates the cost of supplementing the scheme on their services will be up to £10m per annum.

To find out more visit http://www.freedompass.org/

Have a safe Fire Works Night

Havering Council, Havering Police and the London Fire Brigade have launched a crackdown to prevent the sale of fireworks to under-18s. They will be making visits to remind retailers that it's illegal to sell fireworks without the necessary licence from Trading Standards.

Havering Trading Standards takes a zero-tolerance approach to any breach of the stringent conditions governing the storage and sale of fireworks, which will result in legal proceedings and the confiscation of such products.

Though current legislation allows some businesses with special authorisation to sell fireworks all year round, most fireworks can only be sold between October 15 and November 9. It is illegal to set off fireworks between 11pm and 7am, though on special occasions like Bonfire Night they may be set off up until midnight, unless special permission for them to continue until 1am has been granted.

It is also an offence for anyone under 18 to possess fireworks in a public place. Using fireworks in an anti-social way is irresponsible, dangerous and unacceptable, so Havering Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams will be operating additional patrols throughout the borough at this time.
Remember; fireworks are mini-explosives dressed up in colourful packaging – they are NOT toys. Most injuries caused by fireworks happen to children under 16, with many of them ending up with burn scars for life.

So please take care this bonfire night. Go to http://www.london-fire.gov.uk/Fireworks.asp for helpful safety advice from the London Fire Brigade.

If you wish to report illegal sales of fireworks, you can call a special hotline 01708 433428 in confidence.

Gallows Corner Nighmare Continues

Residents Association Councillor, Andrew Mann (Havering Park) has learnt of plans by Transport for London to open the flyover this week, but only one way ! And it may take over a year to re-open fully, if ever.

The planned re-opening of the flyover was originally set for 2nd June; this was delayed until 28th July because an inspection had identified the need for further works. However, it has now been discovered by engineers that even more work is required, involving the steel-railed safety barriers on the flyover, as they are unsafe and will require new barriers to be installed.

However, this work can not be completed with a two way traffic flow and from next Monday (28th July), the flyover will operate in only the London Bound (Westward) direction for the foreseeable future. It can not be confirmed at the moment how long this situation will prevail, it has been suggested it could be well over 12 months, but maybe even longer.

Cllr Mann said “This situation is going from bad to worse, the flyover has already been closed for months causing misery to local residents and commuters, I find it unbelievable in this day and age, that engineers could not have surveyed the structure in more detail before they started the works”.

However, Cllr Mann is now worried about the future of the flyover he said “We all know that this flyover was moved form another location and installed over 35 years ago as a temporary structure, for years it has been allowed to sit and rot with no major maintenance work on it, TfL have failed to look after it properly until it is to late”.

He went on, it has been suggested to me by a reliable source that the flyover works set to take 12 months might be delayed even longer, as when they start on the new barriers, it may well unearth even more rust and damage that will make it unsafe for ever and nothing but scrap metal, to that end I will be writing to Mayor of London Boris Johnson and TfL Head, Peter Hendy, asking them both to set out precise plans for the re-opening of the flyover in both directions as a matter of urgency”

New 375 Bus starts service in Havering Village

Cllr Andrew Mann has been campaigning for a better bus service in the village, since he was first elected in 2002. Something the previous Mayor of London and Transport for London has constantly refused to consider. However, TfL and the Mayor have now been forced into dealing with this situation as hundreds of people would have been literally cut off from the outside world after Arriva Buses recently scrapped the 500 service. Cllr Mann wrote to both TFL and the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, objecting and to ask that the very serious issue of no bus service to and fro the village be looked at as a matter of some urgency.

TfL recently announced a new service that was introduced this week, on Monday 7th July to replace the old 500 bus. The service will operate from Monday to Saturday (no Sunday service) from 07.00 to 19.00 on a 90 min frequency from Romford Station to Passingford Bridge, where the bus will turn and then run back to Romford.

Cllr Andy Mann was on hand this week, as the new service picked up its first passengers at the Village Green in Havering-Atte-Bower, where he had the opportunity to talk to residents about the new service.

Havering Park Councillor, Andrew Mann said “I am glad that the Mayor and TfL have listened to the residents of the village about this very serious issue, hundreds of residents would have been cut of from basic daily chores such as shopping, work and medical appointments, whilst the service is only every 90 minutes, it is far better than the other option of nothing, I am pleased that the Residents Association on behalf of the residents in the Village has played a part in bringing this new service into our area”

Denis Stevens from the Residents Association said “We know this new service is not 100% perfect as it is only 90 minutes, has no Sunday service and will not go out into Essex; all of these issues were raised by residents to us. However, Tfl have assured Cllr Mann, that once the service is up and running, they will be open to consider changes and improvements if we can increase passenger numbers, so all is not lost on these issues”

This will be good news for the thousands of visitors each year to both the St. Francis Hospice Centre and the Essex Wildlife Trust visitors centre in Bedford’s Park, they would have found the traveling almost impossible if they do not happen to drive a car.

New Bus Service for the Village

The Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association were very disappointed with Arriva Buses, following their decision to scrap the 500 bus service, in Havering-Atte-Bower. This would leave the whole village without a bus service, effectively cutting it off from the rest of Romford.

Cllr Andrew Mann has been campaigning for a better bus service in the village, since he was first elected in 2002. Something the previous Mayor of London and Transport for London has constantly refused to consider. However, TfL and the Mayor have now been forced into dealing with this situation as hundreds of people would have been literally cut off from the outside world.

Cllr Mann has recently written to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson and TfL and asked them to come to Havering-Atte-Bower to meet with residents, Councillors and our Member of Parliament to see for themselves the current situation.

Following the letter he sent, TfL have now contacted Cllr Mann and outlined a new service that will be introduced on Monday 7th July to replace the old 500 bus.

The service will operate from Monday to Saturday (no Sunday service) from 07.00 to 19.00 on a 90 min frequency from Romford Station to Passingford Bridge, where the bus will turn and then run back to Romford. The number allocated to this service will be either the 335 or 375.

Havering Park Councillor, Andrew Mann said “I am glad that the Mayor and TfL have listened to the residents of the village about this very serious issue, hundreds of residents would have been cut of from basic daily chores such as shopping, work and medical appointments, whilst the service is only every 90 minutes, it is far better than the other option of nothing, I am pleased that the Residents Association, on behalf of the residents in the Village has played a part in bringing this new service into our area”.

Havering Park Action Member, Denis Stevens said “We know this new service is not 100% perfect as it is only 90 minutes, has no Sunday service, will not go to Collier Row and will not go out into Essex. All of these issues were raised by residents to us. However, Tfl have assured Cllr Mann, that once the service is up and running, they will be open to consider changes and improvements if we can increase passenger numbers, so all is not lost on these issues”

This will be good news for the thousands of visitors each year to both the St. Francis Hospice Centre and the Essex Wildlife Trust visitors centre in Bedford’s Park, they would have found the traveling almost impossible if they do not happen to drive a car.

500 Bus Update in H-A-B Village

Below is a copy of a letter I have written to the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson in relation to the 500 bus being scrapped and the situation that Havering Village will find itself in when the service ends next month.

Boris Johnson
Mayor of London
City Hall
The Queens Walk
London
SE1 2AA

Dear Mayor Johnson

Re: Bus Service in Havering-Atte-Bower

Thank you for your letter of the 20th May 2008, following your successful election as the new Mayor of London, may I take this opportunity to wish you all the very best for the next four years and beyond.

I would very much like to take you up on your offer of working together, whatever political affiliation we are from; to that end a very urgent and pressing matter has arisen in my ward of “Havering Park” at the very northern tip of the London Borough of Havering, to which many residents need your help in resolving.

As you may recall, Assembly Member, Roger Evans recently raised the issue with you at your first Mayors Question time; concerning the situation that has arisen with the withdrawal of the 500 bus, by Arriva Buses Ltd, which now leaves the whole village of Havering-Atte-Bower without a bus service from next month.

For many years, myself, the Member of Parliament for Romford and other organisations such as St Francis Hospice and Essex Wildlife Trust have tried to secure a better bus service; one option was to re run the 499 service to part of the village when it was first introduced by TfL in 2001 / 2002. The second option was to look at the possibility of changing the 103 and 175; both over the years (many years, I might add) used to run up to the village. However, TfL and the previous Mayor would never investigate this any further, than to say it was not feasible.

Havering transport officers have informed me that a meeting is hoping to take place with yourself and TfL shortly to discuss the issues with local politicians, to that end, so that we are truly working for the residents of Havering and the City of London as a whole cross party, I would very much like to meet you to discuss the issues at the same time.

I know you have a busy schedule, however it may also be of benefit if you could visit Havering-Atte-Bower, it is often the forgotten part of London, as once you are there, it is very easy to forget you are still in Greater London and not in fact in the middle of the Essex countryside. I know you spent some time in Romford during your election campaign, something that the previous Mayor never did, I think he only ever visited the Borough of Havering twice in eight years, which is terrible.

I am sure TfL officers will have all the previous correspondence and details of this situation, however I can supply copious amounts of paperwork on this issue if required.

I very much look forward to meeting you to discus the issue further and to welcome you to Havering-Atte-Bower, as I am sure would Roger Evans and Andrew Rosindell.

In the meantime, if I can be of any further assistance on this matter, please do not hesitate to contact me, either via the Members Room at the Town Hall or on Romford 432034. You can also contact me via my e-mail address: andrew.mann@havering.gov.uk

With every best wish

Yours sincerely,


COUNCILLOR ANDREW MANN
Shadow Cabinet Member for StreetCare & the Environment
& Havering Park Residents Association Ward Councillor

500 Bus through Havering Village to be Scrapped

500 Bus to be Scrapped
The Collier Row & Mawneys Residents Association is very concerned about the situation in Havering-Atte-Bower following the decision by Arriva Buses to scrap the 500 bus from next month.

This will now leave the whole village, from the Borough Boundary with Stapleford Abbotts right down to the bottom of Orange Tree Hill without a bus service, effectively cutting the village of from the rest of Romford. We are also concerned that this decision came with no forward warning to both local residents or Councillors and has left little time for anyone to come up with alternative plans.

Since before he was first elected in 2002, Cllr Mann has been campaigning for the 499 bus to be re-routed up to the village, this is something that the previous Mayor of London and Transport for London has constantly refused to consider. However the time has now finally come for TfL and the Mayor to deal with this situation.

To that end, Cllr Andrew Mann has written to the new Mayor of London Boris Johnson and asked him to come to Havering-Atte-Bower to meet with residents and Councillors and our Member of Parliament to see for him-self the current situation.

The Mayors transport strategy for London says, that no resident should be more than 400 metres from a bus service, this was something that was bad enough with just an hourly service and nothing on a Sunday, now the furthest residents will live over 1.5 miles from a bus service.

Apart from local residents who will be cut off, there are thousands of visitors each year to both the St Francis Hospice centre and the Essex Wildlife Trust visitors centre in Bedfords Park, who will now find travelling almost impossible if you do not happen to drive a car.

We are now calling on new Mayor of London Boris Johnson, to support the residents of the village in getting TfL to re-route the 499 bus into the village. Please could we ask you to join our petition by e-mailing, Cllr Andrew Mann your objections to andrew.mann@havering.gov.uk

New Mayor of London

London has a new Mayor, after 8 years of Ken Livingstone, Conservative Boris Johnson was declared the winner after a six week campaign with 1,168, 738 votes, a majority of almost 140,000.

Boris has often been described as a floppy haired buffoon, even by his admirers, his bumbling, self-deprecating personality has long made him one of the best known politicians of his time, often by his many TV appearances, now he is running one of the biggest Cities in the World with, a £11 Billion budget.

His full name is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and was born in New York to English parents in 1964 and was, until recently, an American citizen. He has the typical upper class English background of Eton public school, Oxford University and a father who is a Conservative politician. But he is no stereotypical aristocrat.

Nothing about the 43-year-old now given huge powers over one of the world's great cities is as straightforward as it appears. Yet he has also has the ability to sabotage his own career with his sense of fun - and apparent refusal to take things too seriously - proving his undoing on more than one occasion.

Lets hope with Ken gone, Boris can start to make a difference to the people of Haveirng, the Mayor has a lot to do in helping Havering residents gain better services and more money distributed more evenly across London.

GLA Member for Havering and Redbridge, Roger Evans was also re-elected for another 8 year term, beating his second placed rival from the Labour party by a comfortable margin.

London Elections

Today is polling day in London and it is your chance to have a say on how London is run, the polls open at 07.00 and close at 22.00 tonight. The votes will then be counted tomorrow at a East London location, the results should be none late afternoon.

The Residents Association are not contesting the London Elections, you have three votes today, the first is for the Mayor, are you fed up with Ken Livingstone ? the second vote is for your GLA member, currently Conservative Roger Evans and the third vote is for the party vote, which votes for the GLA members that do not represent a constituency.

Don't forget, by voting you are having your say, if you stay at home and do not vote, you can not influence any change, elections are won or lost on a single vote sometimes, so every vote does count.

Dont lose your vote

A giant ballot cross will be in Havering this week as part of a London wide campaign to encourage residents to join the electoral register.

Mark, an unmissable pink X-shaped figure, will be in the borough to raise awareness of the election for the Mayor of London and the London Assembly which takes place on 1 May. His simple message is register to vote by 16 April if you want to make your mark on the next four years.

Staff will be on hand to provide residents with key information. He will be in Romford Market on Saturday 15 March at 3pm.

Voter registration forms can be downloaded from http://www.londonelects.org.uk/

For more information on voting in the borough, residents can call 432445 or visit www.havering.gov.uk/elections.

Low Emission Zone

The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone kicks of his latest scheme for London today, along with Transport for London (TfL) are introducing a low emission zone (LEZ) for vehicles to cover most of London (excluding the M25 corridor) from 4th February 2008.

It’s aimed at improving air quality standards in London which are currently amongst the worst in Europe. The LEZ will operate 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The scheme aims to encourage the use of vehicles with ‘cleaner’ engine technology (either modern vehicles designed to comply from ‘new’ or those ‘retro-fitted’ with equipment to reduce their harmful exhaust emissions) otherwise the operators will have to pay a charge of up to £200 each time they enter London.

The scheme is based on ‘Euro’ standards for vehicle exhaust emissions. Cameras on Havering's key road approaches to London such as the A12 and the A13 will check vehicle registration details against a database to see if the vehicle meets the right standards for emissions or is required to pay the daily charge. Large green signs have recently been installed alongside these routes about the LEZ.

The scheme will apply to older lorries, buses, coaches and mini buses, motor caravans and specialist vehicles such as horse boxes. It will not apply to cars and motorcycles. A small number of vehicles will be exempt from the LEZ and TfL have details of these types.

The scheme will have a phased introduction from next month beginning with the heaviest vehicles. At first, diesel-engined lorries of more than 12 tonnes will have to meet Euro lll emission standards to enter London free of charge.

From July 2008, vehicles in excess of 3.5 tonnes will also need to meet Euro III standards. Tougher requirements and a wider range of vehicles needing to comply will be introduced from 2010.

The scheme will be fully in place by 2012. Full details of the Low Emission Zone can be found on TfL’s website : tfl.gov.uk/lezlondon or by calling the information line 0845 607 0009.

Cllr Mann said "Who knows if this will be a good thing for London, Ken said the same about the congestion charge, it was meant to cut the amount of traffic and increase the level of carbon in London, now that the charge for the congestion is £8 a day and has done nothing to improve air quality in London". "All I would say about Ken, is lets all be pleased that we have London Elections on the 1st of May, not long to go know".

Maintenance work at Gallows Corner

Transport for London has informed Havering Council that it will be carrying out major maintenance works and carriageway resurfacing on the A127 Gallows Corner flyover next month.

The works are planned to start on 15 February 2008 and allowing for seasonal weather, will last for for five weeks. In the interest of safety to all road users, the flyover structure will be closed throughout this period.

It is proposed that the works are carried out under full closure traffic management, meaning the roundabout and slip roads will have lane closures at certain times during off peak hours.

For more information on the works please contact Transport for London on 0845 305 1234 or visit www.tfl.gov.uk.

Major Roadworks on the A12

From 10th September, major roadworks will be undertaken on the eastbound (towards Southend) stretch of the A12 between Whalebone Lane and Mawney Road and is likely to last for 9 weeks.

There will be daily lane closures from around 9.30am to 4pm for much of this period, but it will also be necessary to carry out up to five consecutive night time full closures by late October.

The full closures will occur between 9.30pm and 5am the next morning and will involve signed diversions via Whalebone Lane (south of A12), London Road, the Romford Ring Road and North Street where the diverted traffic will return to the A12.

Transport for London has informed the Council that it hopes to keep the disruption to a minimum but apologises for any inconvenience to drivers and those on the diversionary route, who are likely to experience additional traffic.

A Royal Village through the Centuries

Havering Council's latest Heritage walk will take place on Saturday, the 14th July 2007 around Havering-atte-Bower (Havering Village). Havering-atte-Bower has a long and very rich history and it was once the home to a royal palace.

The palace had a continuous use as a royal residence from the 12th century to the time of Charles I. There are also many other interesting things to see and stories to hear about the Village.

Local historian Brian Evans will again be leading this walk, which starts at 10.00am on the Village Green and will finish at the Royal Oak Public House at approx 12.30.

Havering-atte-Bower is a wonderful place, often forgotten by people, that it belongs to my ward "Havering Park", two, it is part of Romford and three, that it is still in the London Borough of Havering, something the Mayor of London often forgets.

Safer Neighbourhood Team Police Meeting

I had one of my regular briefings with the Havering Park, Safer Neighbourhood Team last week. Sgt Andy Barnes the team leader for our ward outlined some of his current issues, concerns and operations. We spoke about anti social behaviour in Collier Row, motor bikes in the Country Park and other Police issues affecting the Ward.

The day we meet, happened to coincide with the third anniversary of SNT's in London, although Havering Park was one of the last wards in London to get a full team, they have now been in existence across the Capital as a whole for three years. They are probably the only expansion in the Mayor of London’s budget that I could agree with.

We also discussed the newly created Ward Panel, this is a team of residents who live in the ward, they help scope and focus the team on priorities that residents want. The SNT are not lead by the Borough, but by what needs the ward have, which helps them to become truly local.

Sgt Barnes is a big believer in partnership working, he has made a huge impact in the 4 months or so that he has been on the team, working hard with all of his team together, to tackle local community issues, identified by local people.

Sgt Barnes said, “This is a really exciting time for the Havering Park Ward. We now have a really fantastic opportunity to move forward and resolve issues that locals want resolving. Rolling out the Safer Neighbourhoods model of community policing and working closely with our partners including Councillors is what it is all about. Importantly - our `community' is one of those partners”.

Residents Association 2012 Olympics Petition

Residents Association Councillor, Clarence Barrett recently presented the 3,519 strong Havering Residents Association petition, which protests about the funding arrangements for the 2012 Olympic Games, it was presented to the Mayor of London via the GLA Assembly. Havering and Redbridge GLA Member, Cllr Roger Evans

Cllr Clarence Barrett said: “Whilst welcoming the Games to London in 2012, the issue of funding the Olympics and who will meet the overspend has a particular significance to the residents of Greater London. I am very pleased that the thousands of people who have signed our petition will now have their views expressed to the Mayor. Indeed, I shall be making sure the Culture Secretary, Tessa Jowell, also receives a copy.

“I am very grateful to the support given to this petition by the residents of Havering and beyond and firmly believe that the existence of this protest has and will make a difference to the outcome of this issue”.

The wording of the petition is as follows:

To: Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

Under a pre-arranged deal with the government, council taxpayers across London are compelled to pay an additional £20 per year (based on an average Band D property) for up to eleven years to raise £625 million towards the total cost of the 2012 Olympic Games.
The average council tax across London has increased by 35 per cent over the last five years and has become a significant financial burden for many thousands of residents.

a) There has been no direct consultation with Londoners regarding the setting of an Olympic levy and we do not consider it fair to impose the charge on London residents alone. The 2012 Games is set to benefit the country as a whole and we submit that the costs, including the £625 million, should be shared across the country as a whole.

b) Should the staging the London 2012 Olympic Games result in an overspend against budget, we seek absolute assurance that Londoners will not have this deficit added to council tax bills beyond the pre-arranged period.

Transport cash is a joke

Just before Christmas, the Mayor of London, slipped out the news of his annual transport allocation, known as the LIP, which replaces the old name for the allocation, the BSP, get it so far !

The Borough Spending Plan allocates money for road safety and environmental improvements, across all 33 London Boroughs. This year Havering’s allocation has now slipped to the lowest allocation in London receiving only £2.9 million.

I personally think the allocation from the Mayor of London is pathetic, if you consider we pay the Mayor of London over £25 million each year for the GLA, what do we get back from him, why is it that Waltham Forest that is half the size of Havering should get almost £6 million, I would like to know what the Mayors problem is with Havering, he has only been here once in six years, he treats our residents with contempt.

I am also disappointed with Havering Cabinet Member for Transport, Cllr Mike Armstrong, I can not believe that the Cabinet Member is happy with this allocation”, in a press statement on the 21st Dec he said “we are especially pleased at the range of projects for which funds have been awarded. It means we will be able to continue work on a number of important transport issues” Does he mean the £400k for bus lanes and £200k for cycle lanes, the Cabinet member should be condemning the poor settlement from the Mayor, not saying how wonderful it is.

Don’t forget it is out money in the first place that the Mayor is just re-distributing; he is like a modern day Robin Hood.